I made a discovery – Google Translate interprets idiomatic expressions. I mean, not word to word as some other applications, but it finds analogs in the language in which the text is translated. For example, the Russian saying, “Делать из мухи слона (Make an elephant out of a fly)” will be converted to a familiar to English speakers phrase with the same meaning, “Make a mountain out of a molehill” or another one, “Заблудиться в трёх соснах (Lost in three pine trees)” will become, “Lost in broad daylight.”

Some ideas can be expressed deeper and more clearly with help of idiomatic expressions. Idioms are acquired gradually throughout childhood and adulthood and can’t be quickly absorbed by adults who started learning, in this case, English as a second language. This feature is extremely useful for such people, including myself.

In the evening of February 28th the event started with a presentation held by Khoi Vinh, a user experience designer, writer and speaker, who spoke about the online news industry and web design tendencies. The last part I liked the most, although, at the end of the allotted time, Khoi Vinh ran out of time and had to skip some parts which, judging by the slide titles, were interesting. The second part if the meeting was dedicated to website design critique by a panel of designers. And at the end we supposed to open network and socialize, but I was hungry and had no energy for that. Overall, I liked the meeting and plan to go there often (and socialize).

P.S. The NYC Web Design Group constantly looking for presenters, so if you have a topic you’d like to present, or a website you’d like to have critiqued, or just looking to network with others in the web design industry, please find more information here.